At a price of $19.99 (£15.99 in the UK) it appears that Apple may be looking to combat the low price point $0.99 / £0.59 (cr)Apps that are flooding the App Store and providing massive competition for those game developers who are struggling to get their high quality games noticed.
This price point would only be available to a select group of developers, most likely those who are already well known in the industry like Sega and PopCap, who have brought high quality products to the store.
Apple is most likely looking to pitch the iPhone as another portable games console next to the PSP and DSi this year as more users approach the platform looking at casual games, the price point would reflect this notion along with a new section in the app store or even possibly a games store.
Link – PocketGamer
January 29th, 2009 at 18:40
If they’re going to do this then they better do something about the ‘no trial’ problem. While a lot of people might ‘risk’ .99 or 1.79 or even a little more on a game that they might not end up keeping, how many are going to blow 19.99? Especially in this economic climate?
What you’re going to end up with is possibly a lot of games that people recognise and have enjoyed on other platforms, so they know they like the game, however, if they already own it on another platform, will they be willing to pay out even more money to get an iPhone version?
It’s a difficult problem, most people who come from a WM background like the ‘no try, no buy’ we are used to.
Also, I wonder if, now people are used to the .59 or .99 for an app, whether they are into the thinking that all apps should be this price. Ridiculous in one way when you compare this software to non-iPhone software which is way more expensive.
We’ll see, should be interesting…
January 30th, 2009 at 18:52
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